Producer Stanley Kramer, a man with a penchant for offbeat choices, took Morton Thompson's best-selling novel of a young doctor as the occasion of his own directorial debut.

Producer Stanley Kramer, a man with a penchant for offbeat choices, took Morton Thompson’s best-selling novel of a young doctor as the occasion of his own directorial debut.

Some of the most interesting characterizations appear only in the second story (out of three). Charles Bickford comes near to stealing the picture. Gloria Grahame, as a neurotic widow with lots of money, also stands out, though the part is much changed from the novel and never too clear in her motivations.

Frank Sinatra is another of the players who comes close to doing a little picture stealing. And what about the hero of the story? He’s Robert Mitchum and he’s considerably over his acting depth. Though some scenes come off fairly well, Mitchum is poker-faced from start to finish.